Wednesday, December 10, 2008

pomegranate

The pomegranate plant is much revered among the Chinese people in Malaysia and Singapore. In almost every Chinese home in the HDB housing estate, there is a pot of pomegranate plant growing outside the door. During Chinese New Year, they hang red Chinese money packets liken to the way Christmas trees are decorated. The reason for growing this plant is that they believe it protects the family inside the house as it repels all the evil spirits and the hungry ghosts during the lunar calender in the month of July.

I didn't know the good properties of the pomegranate until I visited my Uncle D. Uncle is a very healthy person who plays a lot of golf. One day, he felt chest pains and heart palpitation. His niece who is a nurse suggested he may have a heart problem. He found that incredible as he was so healthy, ate well and exercised. I showed him to surf the net and one of the foods/fruits recommended was the pomegranate.

Since then, I serve pomegranate seeds in my salad. It is a very attractive red colour and makes the salad very outstanding. I also juice them and it has a reddish colour.

Unfortunately it is a very expensive fruit to buy. A grape fruit sized pomegranate can set you back more than five dollars.

The pomegranate juice is known to prevent or alleviate Heart disease and atherosclerosis, High cholesterol,Prostate cancer, breast cancer and Alzheimer's disease.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomegranate

Now, renowned herbalist James Duke, a former ecologist with the USDA, has published (in the April, 2008 issue of Alternative & Complementary Therapies) an exhaustive review of the scientific literature on the pomegranate. His conclusion: it is “one of the most promising of health foods” with “a dozen known anti-inflammatory phytochemicals and some 3 dozen antioxidants.” Duke found studies that suggest pomegranate fruit and/or juice may help prevent or alleviate:Heart disease and atherosclerosis High cholesterolProstate cancerAlzheimer's disease